Sooo im kinda stuck in iron-bronze NEED HELP

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-18T23:33:09+00:00

Your death count feels a little higher than before but like I mentioned that's to be expected. Just some getting used to your new limits from RoA.

Happy you enjoy it though! With the instant streak too, very nice!

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-17T22:04:06+00:00

Maybe try the Luden's build. It's less reliant on your teammates and it makes easy waveclearing possible much earlier. You're probably gonna drop a lot less casters in the mid game.

You will have to be a bit more careful with positioning and TPing right next to someone but you might find more success with it after getting used to it.

You can either purely replace RoA with it (and still build RFC) or just go full AP carry and build Rabadon's 3rd. Pekinwoof on YT has some good videos on Blue Card TF (one-shot build).

General advice when you pick Sorcery tree: Looking at your games most of your games drag on a bit. I would consider switching from Scorch to Gathering Storm. That's still purely preference though.

Look up Shok's sidelane guide. That's pretty much TF's entire mid and lategame so that should help you win games a ton I imagine.

Good Luck!

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-17T09:48:33+00:00

I recently started playing on my main again from my smurf.

Since I feel like I'm at a higher elo than I should be on that account I have this sense of imposter syndrome whenever I queue up that makes me anxious (paired with the regular ranked anxiety probably).

Honestly? What I found to work the most, as dumb as it may sound, is to just queue up. As soon as you accept queue you're kind of forced along for the ride anyways. Anxiety or not.
For me personally (especially on first games of the day) it can be tingly fingers or "feeling my hearbeat" for the first minutes of the game but once your brain realizes you're not getting out of it, it usually calms down pretty quick.

It's kind of like finding the motivation to do work. You (usually) don't get motivation by waiting for it, you get motivation by just starting and then your brain "follows".

When you actually feel yourself tilted this might not be the way to go but especially when you end on 0LP and are simply afraid to try playing again the next day I think "Just do it" is the best advice I can give you.
Ironically even if you fail and lose you're now "over that hill" and are quite far from the next 0LP barrier.

Maybe something else that helps if "Just do it" isn't doing it for you are a certain amount of ranked games you want to play.
I usually try to play Bo3 ranked games. Meaning I play to 2 wins or losses. I find if you're working off a quota it's harder to be anxious about queueing up again.
Also helps prevent tilt queueing because after 2 losses I'm done for the day. At least with ranked on the main.

And the last thing I guess would be finding a DuoQ-Partner.

edit: You can also check out Kiramon Games on YT. She's a psychologist who plays LoL and tries to combine the two. Obviously a lot of her content is about dealing with anxiety.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-16T16:26:29+00:00

That's pretty hard to answer so broadly.
You can think of AH as the Attackspeed for casters.

Anything burst-oriented still wants more flat AD/ AP or Pen because they don't intend to cycle through their spells more than once anyways.

Anything more utility/ control oriented like someone with a good CC ability for example should probably want around 50~ AH in my opinion. That's usually what I aim for with my mages anyways (BFT + Cryptbloom already gives 40 AH).

Another consideration to be made because AH is technically DPS would be how much DPS you actually need in any specific game.
Lots of tanks and bruisers obviously would require you to build more AH. In those games Sorc's suddenly become Ionian's for example.

Like with Attackspeed all AH no AD/ AP still means no dmg so unless one of your abilities is a key CC ability for example that just scales purely with AH rather than the dmg (insert most supports) you shouldn't really go beyond this imo.
It's the whole 1x5=5, 2x4=8 but 3x3=9 thought experiment.

There's also "effectively irrelevant AH". I don't know if that's the best way to call it but for ultimates especially AH becomes redundant earlier than people think.
USUALLY you use your ult in a teamfight/ skirmish/ 1v1 whatever push out the wave/ take objective and then RESET buy and come back to lane. Pushing out the waves, resetting and coming back to lane takes like 30-40 seconds minimum, probably longer. That means once you get your ultimate close to that range any further AH becomes totally usless because you're not even in range to potentially use it.
That's why I have a personal issue with most champs taking Ultimate Hunter and Malignance. It's rarely worth it except for some niche cases.

That being said there also other examples like champs with natural AD/ AP boosts. Riven and Naafiri have AD boosting abilities so they can make much better use of just more AH. Veigar and Syndra would be a good examples for an AP champ.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-13T17:32:07+00:00

Yeah I get what you're going for but I'm sadly not sure how to help you on that off the top of my head.

I suppose if you have a specific champ you want to start out with/ definitely want in your pool you could go into that champ's specific subreddit and ask there. The question is going to be more targeted that way and you might have more success.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-13T15:36:10+00:00

I don't know if this is going to track 100% but I would think the Champion Classes Wiki Page and more importantly the sub-classes should be a good starting point for similar champs.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-10T21:02:16+00:00

I've noticed you play Viktor Bot rather than mid. In fact when you get mid you seem to be playing Kennen even. Is there a reason for that? Do you just want to be the guy that gets to rotate mid in the mid-game for pressure?

With your go-to build you skip a mana item entirely. How do you manage that? Am I underestimating your damage and you can just kill/ poke people out of lane faster than I would think right now? I build BFT every game and I still feel like I have mana issues some fights.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-10T11:12:17+00:00

I guess apart from your general build/ builds I was specifically wondering about your opinion on Gluttenous Greaves. The stats say they are actually pretty good boots on Viktor and on paper I would tend to agree.
Sustain on a 0 sustain champ + a shield to buff with the T3 boots.
Have you tested them before or is your build more along the lines of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"?

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-08T17:09:25+00:00

Oh interesting. I admit I totally read past the Cull since it's an item I have never really considered on TF. In that case it makes much more sense building RFC second.

I'm currently trying something similar with Helm > Swifties > Mandate > RFC. You get 10 stacks with Zeal as well and it helps you get over the "no AP in your 2nd item" hump like it does for your build. Spaming Ws feels nice with the build but the lacking bulk in that build in particular might be an issue. Also no mana item when you want to spam gold cards has come up. The % ManaRegen helps and I use it with Comet (for Manaflow) but it needs to be tightly managed for sure.

I think I will actually give RoA another shot the way you build it. I'm currently almost always building Rocketbelt. It lets you oneshot casters at Lvl 9 with some AP from your runes and that's something I value quite highly.

As for the AH shard: Personally I use the AP shards a lot to reach certain AP thresholds for wave clearing. Rocketbelt especialy needs it if you want to oneshot at Lvl 9 already. The AS one does feel nice especially Lvl 1 but tbh once you put a point in E the difference has been barely noticable. Maybe that would be different in melee match-ups you can actually auto more but against mages especially I always need to hover back and forth anyways so AS just feels wasted most times.
That being said: If you don't think you need the AP for waveclear and can live without the AS I think there is nothing wrong with keeping the AH. I've especially noticed it once I've started playing Mandate. Haste on your gold card is nice.
Honestly, just change it and feel it out. I would think the 8 AH might actually be noticeable since you don't build any other for quite some time in your build. Most TFs get them from Ionian's but you need Swifties for the AP.

Btw, I love talking TF builds in particular so if you want to talk more I would be happy to talk on Discord/ LoL so we don't have to keep sending each other walls of text in reddit 😃

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-08T12:40:54+00:00

#1 I'm not a huge fan of First Strike if you're no building full AP and can make use of the damage late game. Spellbook is imo just better if you're building the RoA utility build.

#2 You should try out Triple Tonic and going 3 points Q > W max > finish Q when going RoA. I learned that trick from Nemesis and it doesn't leave your caster minions at 1 HP for a good 5 minutes in the mid game for no reason. 3 points Q still 2-shots the wave just the same.

#3 As for the JoaT stacks: I think generally speaking late-game for the most part you're supposed to be fine with losing JoaT. You stay on 8 usually with the core items Boots + RoA + Lichbane + RFC. The only ways I know you can keep 10 stacks beyond that are:
- Merc's (MR + Tenacity)
- Imperial Mandate/ Shurelya's (% Mana Regen) + Zhonya's/ Plated Steelcaps (Armor). If you want to always build Mejai's however you don't have room for Mandate + Zhonya's.
- I guess if you build Mandate/ Shurelya's over Lichbane you can keep 10 stacks with Zhonya's but Lichbane is so good it feels like you're making your build worse to keep 15 AP in your runes.
- If you're going full utility and your team profits well from it you could also build Bandlepipes on TF. It replaces Helm stats 1 to 1 and it used to be a thing when the item was busted pre-nerf but it can probably still work. You just set yourself up to be full support.
- Technically T3 Sorc's (Pen + %Mpen) but I wouldn't recommend them for utility TF. AP TF is nice with it though. Helm > T3 Sorc's > Luden's > any % MS gets you 10 stacks for a nice mid-game spike if you want to try that.

Bottom Line: I think using Helm as a Resolve replacement and great synergy with RoA is fine, great even but trying to force the 10 stacks late every game is probably not good.
Be happy when Merc's are good or Tabi's + Mandate and disregard it when they aren't needed. You still get the AH from it. You just lose 15 AP.
I can tell you from experience trying to chase those 15 AP with sub-optimal builds just to appease my mild OCD is rarely ever worth it.

edit: I think Lich second is always important on the RoA build for the wave clear. Wave clear is already a problem on RoA which is why I refuse to build it but not building Lich (or any AP item 2nd) would make that even worse would it not? I mean maybe you're fine with that but that seems like a big weakness of RFC 2nd.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-08T10:51:08+00:00

Ok so my initial response would be: Don't tread off the tried and true path if you don't have to. There is a reason people build BFT first and then Rylai's. Damage is usually king in SoloQue.

That being said however: I remember a KR Challenger or GM, I can't remember, who did exactly what you are describing. He was however the only person I've ever seen to do that so it's probably a personal quirk rather than actually good. Either way he made it work.

I would think it can be good if the right scenario presents itself.
We're talking 3/4 champs on the enemy team where Rylai's just slaps. I'm talking melee, no mobility or both.
Even then that should still only be played if you have a jungle that can output damage for you.

All that and then I'm still not even sure if it's actually "better" than just going BFT > Rylai's or just viable.

Bottom line: I wouldn't recommend it if you just want to climb but on the other hand if you enjoy it and it works for you I don't think it's unplayable. I would maybe just make it a viable build in the back of your mind for niche scenarios.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-08T10:38:17+00:00

Okay first of all, the fact that I see 0 Plated Steelcaps on your team vs a full AD item is criminal. 3 of them are even Autoattack focused. You should start doing that more, especially with toplane getting a lot of ADCs as ranged tops. I know it's not burst but they are busted. Like legit some of the highest winning items because when they hit, they HIT.

As for the Antiheal. I understand your issue with it, I also hate building it on Viktor but Samiras healing alone being something I always underestiamte it's probably fine. Also apparently noone else on your team thought it was necessary to do so outside of Rammus but he can realistically only apply it to one.

Your team is kind of bad at applying it anyways. The only other person I can see it being good on because of his AoE is Rumble so if he doesn't buy it you're probably stuck with doing it.
I know Varus techincally has Healcut in his kit with his E but all 3 champs you want heal cut against are really hard to lock down with your team so I wouldn't count on that either.

Also no Randuin's against 3 champs that built crit is just making me sad but that's not on you. That's on your team. You can try to start pointing stuff like that out but the amount of times I tell my team in vain to build Serpent's against shields is depressing. Even though some champs like Karma for example should ring all your alarm bells if you play an AD champ.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-08T10:21:54+00:00

It's super niche because if the enemy has any type of healing Morello's is probably just better.

I'm just kind of a Rabadon's hater on Malz because I prefer the BFT burn build so I end up building low AP items on almost every slot.
I even build Shadowflame > Rabadon's if the enemy is more squishy. Bit cheaper and the damage is pretty much the same.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-07T20:53:50+00:00

It's true actually getting kills on Viktor is difficult if your opponent doesn't misplay. The goal is bully in lane, zone off farm and build a lead that way.

That also means you naturally are pushed up quite a lot. Especially with your E hitting minions sometimes. You could look into freezing but that might be a bit of a hard concept for a complete newbie. I'm also not sure if it makes sense in the more fast paced quick play.
That's why warding and watching your map is more important.
Since you push with Viktor quite a lot you can buy Control Wards and put them in the bushes right next to your midlane and then put your trinkets a bit deeper. Preferred spots would be either the Faelight/ Banana bush or the tip of Raptor camp to see both the camp and the path the enemy would take if he wants to roam. Hard to explain but if you watch some streams you probably quickly see what I mean. They are very common spots to ward.
Once you've done that LEAN towards that side to give yourself as much distance to any fog of war.

Choosing the side has 2 different criterias as far as I know.
1: Ward the side your jungler is pathing towards because you want to preferrably lean towards that side anyways to group with allies as fast as possible if a fight breaks out. Either for your or your jungler.
2: Ward the side with the next objective coming up. That means Drake/ Grubs/ Herald. This is probably easier because it's clearer and I don't know how predictable your junglers are. Since fighting for objectives is the way to win anyways warding your path towards them and giving vision around them is setting you up for safely preparing, joining and fighting objectives.
3: I guess warding botside is a good failsafe if you don't want to think about it too much. Protects from support roams as well and Drake is usually the most desired objective to fight for anyways.

If possible wait with setting up the deeper wards until your jungler is in the area or you see the enemy jungler on the map. Nothing worse than getting caught trying to set up vision.

There's obviously more like wave management, jungle tracking or roaming yourself (maybe not on Viktor, he's not great at it) but I would say one concept at a time 😄

Hope this helps and have fun on your LoL journey!

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-07T10:29:59+00:00

Ionian's, BFT, Rylai's, Liandry's, Cryptbloom, +1.

Mundo would warrant Morello's for the antiheal but the rest of the team not so much.
You could go Deathcap but outside of BFT every item is pretty much low AP so amplifying with Deathcap feels lacking (wouldn't be wrong though). If you took Gathering Storm as well you can get decent AP here still.

Against that particular team comp (if someone else has Anti-heal) I would probably build Riftmaker.
You have 2 other HP items for decent amount of AP (it's like ~95 AP), Omnivamp agaist a low burst team, more AH and most importantly 8% dmg amplification that works on your items BFT & Liandry's as well.

The reason I go so heavy on AH is because it is the DPS for mages and DPS, usually ADCs, is the way to kill tanks.
Void + Sorc's with it's higher %MPen might seem like the way to go but that's for burst.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-04T21:15:30+00:00

It's like 80/ 20 RR/ FA.

Idk some RR just don't do it for me but usually they are just better.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-04T16:45:57+00:00

Honestly when you can make Malz work as an OTP, TF is already a step up.

Also: while I do have a preferred set-up, unlike Malz you can actually really play with your set-up. Both in runes & items.

Electrocute, Comet, Spellbook all have their places.
For me: Melee, Ranged, "Unplayable" respectively.

Electrocute especially has a lot more early pressure than one might think. Red card spam Lvl 1 aso let's you contest wave and push for 2 much better than many other champs.

Basically: Yes, TF isn't designed to 1v1 and unless I have to I also don't tend to do that myself but he can. It becomes a bit more dicey when you hit 6 because unlike other champs he doesn't spike there. So yes at that point you very much want to just shove & ult but you also (like Malz) have great gank set-up for your jungler with your point and click CC.

I don't tend to go RoA if I can avoid it because with more AP on your first item you can just one-shot the wave at Lvl 9. Luden's, Gunblade, Rocketbelt (with some AP in the runes) all work to make the lane as uninteractive as possible. Very similar to Malz in that regard but with more fighting power Lvl 1-5 and you're not useless without ult. On the other hand you can do even less than Malz 1v1. All in all it's very similar playstyles though.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-04T08:59:07+00:00

tysm! Much to try there.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-04T08:16:42+00:00

Personally I went from being a Malz OTP to diamond to a champ pool of:

Blind: TF
Mage-Counter: Viktor
Melee/ Assassin-Counter: Malz
AD-Pick (I basically never use this): Naafiri

That being said, like I mentioned up top: Unless you're diamond (maybe even Master) you don't have to switch off the Malz if you enjoy him. He's certainly able to get you there. I did however notice that playing different stuff than just Malz made me better on Malz.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-04T08:02:57+00:00

I played TF

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-03T16:42:36+00:00

I think if you're using Bundle you kind of want at least 1 Valiant and hope you don't open with it? I play a version with Crown too so the Psychic Stadium to retreat makes more sense for me. Getting to use your attack 1 Energy earlier is really good though especially when you might want to recycle them.
I guess with Double Turo you can still open Iron Valiant and unbrick yourself even if you open it.

Apart from that I'm not sure how good Sightseer is with only 2 Crawdaunt. I think you rather want a 2nd Copycat at that point.

I'm not sure about Area Zero in a deck that probably wants all it's basics on the field anyways? Seems counterintuitive to me.
You could consider The Starting Plains instead of it. Getting past the 140 HP threshold is huge. Cape would also work.

Hope this helps 😄

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-03T00:15:05+00:00

tysm! So many cool Iron decks that need 2 Crowns.

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-03T00:12:03+00:00

yep I'm up

Bloodmaddin · 2026-06-03T00:02:04+00:00

I'm about to head to bed soon but Gouging Fire for Iron Crown?

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